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How to build an Employer Brand

Are you looking to develop a recruitment strategy or trying to move over to a direct sourcing model? Then start with your employer brand, as this will impact both. Lots has been written about who should own the employer brand and whether it should be HR or the C-suite but I think everyone should be involved after all one person doesn’t make a brand. Yes it takes times and will require investment but it can reduce recruitment fees by 50% and achieve far more than a “spray and pray” approach.

It’s amazing how many companies give off real mixed messages when it comes to their employer brand misrepresenting themselves by trying to be the company they want to be rather who they actually are, the key is to keep it real. Listen to 360 reviews and exit interviews as these may give you a reality check to how your employees and stakeholders view the business.

The idea is to attract the right candidates so if you are a company that demands long hours and suits don’t try to portray yourselves as a flexi time Jean wearing business. All you are going to do is increase your work load by attracting the wrong type of candidates who will see right through this in the interview stage and this will reflect on the candidate experience. Worse still you could end up employing the wrong people and then have to mop up the mess. You should you eat, sleep and breathe your culture and be proud of it and focus on attracting candidates that fit this.

Once you know who you are then you need to think about who you want to target as this will help when you are looking at channels to deliver your message. Social media has been fantastic for helping businesses amplify their voice but you should start with your careers site as this is likely to be where the candidate decides to apply to your company and here are a few things you should consider.

Make sure your careers site is easy to navigate and mobile friendly, I would suggest responsive but this is a personal decision. Try to include all media such a text, pictures and video, anyone visiting your site should get a clear idea of what life is like at your company. All too often I view awful videos that are either cheesy or boring so focus on good story telling and go for welcoming and not quirky.

It should go without saying that your career site is an on-going project and should be updated regularly.

In 2014 I can’t understand why more companies ATS’s do not accept social profiles because if you go to the effort of being mobile friendly why would you then require a candidate to use a laptop or desktop to submit their application.

If you are a global company think about how you are going to localise your career site rather than just translating the content.

Now it’s time to get “social” this is so much more than being visible with vanity URL’s and posting updates with a one size fits all approach, as this will not work. Consider some of the following

Social Channels are a great way of communicating both externally and internally. It’s easy to forget about your employees in marketing your employer brand but by doing this you could be missing out on referrals.

Don’t try to be on every network from Twitter to Snapchat if all candidates are going to find is a graveyard of old posts.

If you choose to have a talent community makes sure that you have the resources to make it successful as it is so much more than job postings.

I would suggest you master Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn before moving on to any others.

Content is king and it is a great way of driving traffic from social networks to your career site.

Another myth is that social media is free; you wouldn’t expect a fantastic ROI on a marketing campaign that had no budget so why expect that from social media? Invest in the right tools and consider social advertising such as banners, promoted tweets and retargeting.

My final thoughts are you have created a strong employer brand so try not to screw it up with a rubbish candidate experience